Duties of Executors Action to Obtain a Construction of the Will of the late A.H.P. Edwards.; SUPREME COURT GENERAL TERM.

Matter of the Will of A.H.P. Edwards The executor of this will, Hon. Edwards Pierrepont, instituted this proceeding to obtain a judicial construction of the will. The case was stated in the TIMES of Feb. 6. The testator died in 1857, leaving no children. His personal estate was estimated at $132,000. The real estate, as stated, was unproductive, consisting mostly of wild lands in the State of Illinois. It was valued at $30,000.

The will directed the executors (of whom Mr. Pierrepont only qualified) in their discretion, to sell and convert into money any of the estate which was unsafe or unproductive, and to invest the money in some safe and productive securities. It also directed that the widow of the testator, in case there was no child, should have an annuity of $7,000.

The revulsion of 1857 caused such a depression in the affairs of the estate, that the executor says the net proceeds do not amount to the sum of $7,000, and that in order to protect the unproductive lands he has been compelled to pay out large sums annually, and to refrain from forcing sales which would have resulted in great losses to the estate. The widow has, therefore, received only about $4,000 per annum since the death of the testator. She contends that the lands should be sold, and that she should be paid $7,000 per annum as the will directs.

The Court of Special Term found, as a matter of fact, that the testator in no case intended that his wife should have less than the sum directed annually. The decree was in accordance with that finding. Appeal was taken to this Court, where the decree was now modified as to payment of moneys out of income, and costs to be paid out of estate, and in other respects it was affirmed.

William Bliss for Executor; Mann & Rodman and A.W. Bradford for Widow.

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A version of this archives appears in print on March 12, 1862, on Page 2 of the New York edition with the headline: Duties of Executors Action to Obtain a Construction of the Will of the late A.H.P. Edwards.; SUPREME COURT GENERAL TERM. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe